Newspaper Page Text
4A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, September 14,2022
Chestatee collecting donations for Backpack Buddies
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
From now through Sept.
16, residents of Chestatee
neighborhood in Dawson
County are collecting food
and monetary donations to
support Backpack Buddies, a
program designed to support
children in need in the coun
ty.
Backpack Buddies was
started nearly ten years ago
and is aimed at supporting
underprivileged students in
Dawson County by provid
ing them with filled back
packs containing food provi
sions to take home and eat
over the weekend. Chestatee
has held a food drive each
year to support this cause in
partnership with New Life
Church.
According to food drive
Chairwoman Barb Dumont,
the counselors at each school
give the names of children in
need to New Life Church.
The church packs bags each
week to send home with the
children when they get on the
bus to go home for the week
end. Currently, the program
is serving about 90 children
in the community.
As part of the program, the
church is able to purchase a
great deal of the food from
the Atlanta Food Bank, but
some of the items they need
are not available. Because of
this, they are in need of items
like peanut butter, individual
fruit and applesauce cups and
packaged milk that doesn’t
require refrigeration.
Residents in Chestatee are
collecting these items from
Sept. 6 through 16, and as of
Saturday Sept. 10 Dumont
said that the neighborhood
had collected nearly $1000
in donations, and that volun
teers had already made three
trips to the church to drop
off cars full of food dona
tions.
“This neighborhood is so
generous,” Dumont said.
“It’s such a worthy cause.”
Several residents through
out the neighborhood have
volunteered to put bins out
on their front porches for the
duration of the drive, so resi
dents who want to donate
have been able to simply
drop their contributions in
the nearest bin for the volun
teers to then take up to the
church. The church is also
accepting checks to allow
them to purchase food for
the program.
Those interested in con
tributing to Backpack
Buddies can contact New
Life Church at 706-265-
3811.
Erica Jones Dawson County News
Volunteers from Chestatee neighborhood in Dawson County stand with
some of the donations that have been collected during the neighbor
hood's annual food drive for Backpack Buddies.
FROM 1A
Rezoning
Grizzle Road
neighborhood plan
One of the county rezoning
requests is a proposed 332-home
neighborhood at Grizzle and
Hanging Dog roads.
The request previously came
to the Dawson County Planning
Commission at their Aug. 16
meeting, where they recom
mended denial in a 3-0 vote. The
Dawson County Board of
Commissioners can vote to
approve, deny or table the appli
cation.
Applicant D.R. Horton has
requested a rezoning of 333 acres
from Residential Sub-Rural to
Residential Planned Community.
The development’s concept plan
shows two points of entry along
Grizzle Road and amenities such
as a junior Olympic pool, kid’s
pool, tennis courts and a club
house.
Developer consultant Jim
King, who spoke at the Aug. 16
meeting on D.R. Horton’s behalf,
previously told DCN that the
projected price point for the
homes is entry-level or around
$350,000.
County planning commission
ers and area residents shared
concerns about the proposed
neighborhood’s density and the
potential impact on traffic given
the jagged shape of Grizzle Road
and speeding concerns. They
also recognized the property’s
proximity to the Etowah River,
with Chairman Jason Hamby
calling the land “environmentally
sensitive” and agreeing that any
water erosion and runoff from it
“would be a concern of all
Dawson County citizens.”
At the planning commission
meeting, King called the request
for 332 units “justified” and
pointed out that his client’s pro
posal wouldn’t be any more
dense than many surrounding
properties.
“Today’s families-at least all
of the national builders I work
for-everyone’s looking for small
er lots,” King said about lot size.
“They don’t want to maintain the
larger lots anymore. The majority
of what my engineering firm
designs nowadays are 50 and
60-foot lots.”
One of the planning commis
sion’s suggested stipulations was
that a minimum of 140 acres of
the project “be preserved in per
petuity as [an] undisturbed con
servation area.”
King confirmed that his client
is additionally willing to do a
conservation easement to that
effect, but because approval was
not recommended, that stipula
tion was not put into place.
However, the Board of
Commissioners could add that
condition if they decide to
approve the rezoning request.
King acknowledged the need
for traffic improvements at
Dawson Forest and Grizzle
roads. He said his client was
amenable to a proposed west
bound right-turn lane, eastbound
left-turn lane and a left turn-only
lane and a shared through/right-
turn lane separating the south
bound approach.
Resident Tonia Bagwell went
further by suggesting that if the
rezoning be approved and
the project commences,
Dawson Forest Road should be
expanded to four lanes, and
Grizzle Road should be straight
ened.
Lee Castleberry Road
subdivision plan
Flowery Branch-based compa
ny Stark Land Development has
requested a rezone for 152 more
residences in a proposed neigh
borhood along Lee Castleberry
Road, near Ga. 400.
At their Aug. 16 meeting, the
Dawson County Planning
Commission voted 3-0 to recom
mend approval for a request to
rezone two parcels totaling 25.35
acres off of the roadway, which
sits between Stacie Lane and
Lumpkin Campground Road.
The proposed rezone from
Residential Agricultural to
Residential Multi-Family would
pin the neighborhood’s overall
density at about six units per
acre, according to planning docu
ments.
The development would
include 160 townhomes and 40
single-family, semi-detached
houses, or a total of 200 residen
tial units mixed together, devel
oper Billy Stark said on Aug. 16.
The planning commission’s
vote follows the planning com
mission’s recommendation and
the Board of Commissioners’
ultimate decision this past
October to approve the develop
er’s requested rezone for a pro
posed 48 townhomes at the cor
ner of Stacie Lane and Lee
Castleberry Road. That fall vote
was a divided 3-1 decision, with
District 1 Commissioner Sharon
Fausett opposing the measure.
In terms of traffic, two access
points are shown on the develop-
ment’s conceptual plans.
Sidewalks and a linear park are
part of the proposed improve
ments on Lee Castleberry Road
between its intersection with
Lumpkin Campground Road at
the new roundabout and Ga. 400.
Other planning recommenda
tions include the widening of Lee
Castleberry Road, an eastbound
deceleration lane going into the
development and turning lanes
off of the roadway.
However, area resident Carol
Weathers pointed out that no red
light was planned thus far for the
intersection of Ga. 400 and Lee
Castleberry Road. Weathers
explained that the traffic would
make it difficult to enter and exit
her property just off of the state
highway.
“Somebody’s going to get hurt
there sooner or later if there’s not
a light not put in there, especially
with all the homes and people
that are going to be moving in
there,” Weathers said.
During the Aug. 16 meeting,
Stark acknowledged that even
with the traffic challenges, his
company’s land along Lee
Castleberry Road was the right
place for the proposed subdivi
sion.
“Being on the far south side of
the county and this close to Ga.
400, we think this is really smart
growth,” Stark said. “It’s sur
rounded by all of these exact
uses and all of these exact zon-
ings.”
FROM 1A
Wish
It was well worth it for
Mason’s family and
friends to see his smiles,
given the teen’s challeng
ing year since being diag
nosed with stage four
Glioblastoma last
November around
Thanksgiving.
The good news about
the truck came after
Mason changed to taking
at-home cancer treatments
from the Houston, Texas-
based Burzynski Clinic, a
facility that’s had success
with curing Glioblastoma
in other patients.
So far, recent MRI scans
have shown decreased
fluid and swelling in
Mason’s head and, thank
fully, no tumor forming.
As the wish gifter, Max
Grant shares a unique link
with Mason, in that he was
also diagnosed with a type
of brain cancer four years
ago.
Max’s mother, Lori
Grant, explained that her
son began experiencing
symptoms like nausea and
dizziness. After about a
year-and-a-half of trying
to figure out what was
going on, doctors diag
nosed him with an
Ependymoma, a tumor
that can form on the brain
or spinal cord.
Fortunately, though, the
tumor wasn’t yet attached,
so surgeons were able to
successfully remove it
from Max. Two weeks
later, Max’s oncologist
submitted his name to
Make-A-Wish Georgia.
Lori called the gesture a
“bright spot” in the whole
situation, “from something
happening to him to some
thing positive.”
However, granting
Max’s initial wish of a
skid steer, a type of small
construction machine,
proved tricky, as the orga
nization hadn’t had a kid
ask for that before.
Then the COVID-19
pandemic hit, and the fac
tories that make skid steers
stopped making them.
Though Max amended his
request to be a mini-X
instead, finding that also
proved difficult. Max was
later given the option to
deny his wish or perhaps
give something to an area
hospital or somebody else.
“His sister, Mattie, sug
gested giving it to Mason
and instantly he was like,
‘That’s what I should do,”’
Lori said. “That’s when he
said, ‘Eve already got my
wish. I’m healthy. I don’t
have a tumor anymore. I
can do everything I want
to again.”
As a teacher, Lori knew
Mason’s sister, Malina,
from working in the same
school she was attending.
When they initially
reached out to Make-A-
Wish Georgia, the organi
zation actually said Mason
wasn’t on their list, so
Malina took the lead in
submitting her younger
brother.
Mason asked Max to go
with him to the custom car
shop to help design the
truck, because he wanted
the elder teen to be a part
of the process, Lori added.
During the truck’s Sept.
1 debut, Make-A-Wish
Georgia arranged for Max
to hand Mason the keys
and help unveil the truck.
Robert said his son com
municated his gratitude
“with smiles more so than
words.”
“I was glad to see a
smile on his face,” Max
said of Mason. “That was
all I cared about.”
“It’s unusual for kids to
have such a diagnosis like
that in the same county,”
Lori said. “Our paths have
crossed many times...so
it’s kind of neat that they
got to bond over that.”
She encouraged com
munity members to
remember Mason and
keep rooting for him.
Although Max was the
one to give his wish to
Mason, the older teen
wants the focus to remain
on Mason.
Currently, Mason’s wish
for a boat to indulge in his
beloved pastime of fishing
is on hold, for similar rea
sons that Max’s original
wish was.
Overall, though, Alison
wrote in a recent Facebook
post that her son’s spirits
and appearance have kept
improving, allowing him
to fish and spend time at
the lake, go to DCHS foot
ball games and have fun
with family and friends.
Mason even hopes to be
able to return to in-person
school soon, and he’s
about to celebrate his 17th
birthday later this month.
Alison shared that she
“sees God working in
Mason every single day”
and continues to “have
faith and believe that
Mason will be healed 100
percent.”
Meanwhile, the
Palmours expect to host
another fundraiser for the
teen in the coming weeks,
so people are encouraged
to keep an eye out for
updates on the
MasonStrong Fundraising
Facebook page.
Robert explained that
they still have a “long way
to go” raising funds for the
rest of Mason’s treatments,
as well as more medica
tion to stop another tumor
from forming and reme
dies for pain management.
People interested in
organizing a fundraiser
may also reach out to the
Palmours through the fun
draising Facebook page.
Robert again thanked
the community for rallying
around Mason over the
past year.
Various fundraisers have
been held this spring to
raise money for the teen’s
medical costs, and the teen
has a #MasonStrong
GoFundMe.
Mason also has a bank
account with Bank OZK
in Dawsonville for people
wanting to make a deposit
there on behalf of him.
“If something’s needed
[with Mason], it’s there.
They come through. They
help out,” Robert said.
Max Grant’s wish, gift
ed to Mason, is one of 450
wishes Make-A-Wish
Georgia is trying to grant
this year, said VP of
Marketing and
Communications Amy
Alvarez.
“Even in the pandemic,
we didn’t stop bringing
wishes to life for local
kids,” Alvarez said.
“We’ve decided to make a
huge commitment to grant
1,000 wishes by the end of
2022. Every child deserves
a wish.”
Individuals wanting to
get involved with Make-A-
Wish Georgia can learn
more about how to do so
at georgia.wish.org.
Robert said it meant a
lot to him to see Max’s
“sure selflessness” to do
that, when the older teen
could have asked for any
thing.
“That’s what I want kids
to see,” Robert said. “This
is who you need to strive
to be and who you need to
follow.”
Dawson County Humane Society
a no kill shelter
Doggy Spotlight
Meet Paisley! Hello there big world! My name is Paisley and I am a
gorgeous red and white Spaniel Mix. All my legs are white and red
speckled and I have mesmerizing chocolate brown eyes that will melt
your heart! I weigh about 30 pounds and am estimated to be 1.5 years
old. I would need an adopter that could give me that patience, time, and
love that I need to transform into the brave, independent girl that I know
I can be! I am quite frightened of kids, men, and loud noises
(I need a home with women only). I would benefit from a dog friend to
play with and teach me how to be a dog. I am house-trained too.
I will chase cats. I am currently available for adoption. If you are
interested in meeting with me, please fill out an application or call the
Humane Society of Forsyth County at 770-887-6480, Tuesday through
Saturday, for more information. All my love and kisses, Paisley
706-265-9160
Paisley
For more information contact the 706-265-9160 | 633 Martin Rd, Dawsonville
Dawson County Humane Society Adjacent to the Rock Creek Sports Complex
Visit our RESALE SHOP & BOUTIQUE
Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. | 54 S. Lumpkin Campground Rd.
All proceeds benefits
the Humane Society
Bradley M. Maple
CPA, PC
706-216-2362
2390 Thompson Rd • Ste 100
Dawsonville
ANH Collision
Specialists
706-216-0992
103 Industrial Park Road,
Dawsonville
Dawsonville
Veterinary
Hospital
706-265-8381
